Tesla stock was up 4% in midday trading at $184.28 while the
and Nasdaq Composite were both up about 0.1%.
There aren’t any upgrades or downgrades to focus on. CEO Elon Musk hasn’t tweeted out anything noteworthy. That means the pay package is still the main reason responsible for Monday’s move.
This past week, shareholders re-approved Musk’s 2018 pay package, awarding the CEO some 300 million incentive-laden stock options. They had to vote again because a Delaware judge voided the deal in January, citing inadequate disclosures to investors.
Musk tweeted the result on Wednesday evening. Tesla disclosed full details Friday about the vote, which showed about 72% support for approving the award. The original proposal in 2018 passed with 73% support.
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Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called the pay vote a $20 to $25 overhang on Tesla stock. If he’s right, that would put Tesla stock at about $200.
Shares aren’t there yet. Investors might be waiting for the judge to rescind her decision.
The $200 level for Tesla stock represents some resistance, according to technical stock-market analysts. Resistance refers to levels where investors have sold shares in the past. Breaking through a resistance level can signal good things ahead for a stock.
The $198 to $200 level represents “the spike high from April 29,” says CappThesis founder Frank Cappelleri. After that, investors can watch the $205 level which is the late February high, and the $209 level—the stock’s 200-day moving average. The moving average, however, declines when the stock is below that level.
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With technical resistance around $200, it would take something significant for shares to top that, and one may be on the way soon. Tesla will report second-quarter deliveries in early July. Wall Street expects 450,000 deliveries, down from 466,000 a year ago, implying the second consecutive year-over-year decline for deliveries, according to FactSet. A beat might help shares top $200.
Slowing sales growth is one reason why Tesla stock, though midday trading, was down about 25% year to date.
After deliveries, Tesla’s next significant event is a robotaxi unveiling on Aug. 8 that will reveal a vehicle, and an update about the artificial-intelligence-trained autonomous-driving software. Maybe there will be some surprises in the specifics.
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For the next couple of weeks, until deliveries, investors can look for shares to bob between $180 and $200.
Unless of course, Musk does, or tweets, something else dramatic.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
